Editing Himalayas (section)

===Lakes===
{{See also|List of Alpine lakes in India}}
[[File:Gurudongmar Lake Sikkim, India (edit).jpg|thumb|[[Gurudongmar Lake]] in Sikkim]]

The Himalayan region is dotted with hundreds of lakes.<ref name="O'Neill_2019">{{cite journal |last1=O'Neill |first1=A. R.| date=2019 |title=Evaluating high-altitude Ramsar wetlands in the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas |journal=Global Ecology and Conservation |volume=20 |issue=e00715 |pages=19 |doi=10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00715 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Pangong Tso]], which is spread across the border between India and China, at the far western end of Tibet, is among the largest with a surface area of {{cvt|700|km2|||}}.

South of the main range, the lakes are smaller. [[Tilicho Lake]] in Nepal, in the Annapurna massif, is one of the highest lakes in the world. Other lakes include [[Rara Lake]] in western Nepal, [[Phoksundo Lake|She-Phoksundo Lake]] in the [[Shey Phoksundo National Park]] of Nepal, [[Gurudongmar Lake]], in [[North Sikkim]], [[Gokyo Lakes]] in [[Solukhumbu]] district of [[Nepal]], and [[Lake Tsongmo]], near the Indo-China border in Sikkim.<ref name="O'Neill_2019"/>

Some of the lakes present the danger of a [[glacial lake outburst flood]]. The [[Tsho Rolpa]] glacier lake in the [[Rolwaling Himal|Rowaling Valley]], in the [[Dolakha District]] of Nepal, is rated as the most dangerous. The lake, which is located at an altitude of {{convert|4580|m|abbr=on}}, has grown considerably over the last 50 years due to glacial melting.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://rolwaling.tripod.com/glof/| title = Photograph of Tsho Rolpa}}</ref><ref>[[Glacial lake outburst flood#Monitoring|Tsho Rolpa]]</ref> The mountain lakes are known to geographers as ''[[tarn (lake)|tarns]]'' if they are caused by glacial activity. Tarns are found mostly in the upper reaches of the Himalaya, above {{cvt|5500|m|||}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highestlake.com/highest-lake-world.html|title=Highest Lake in the World|first=Carl|last=Drews|access-date=14 November 2010|archive-date=18 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818141925/http://www.highestlake.com/highest-lake-world.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Temperate Himalayan wetlands provide important habitat and layover sites for migratory birds. Many mid and low altitude lakes remain poorly studied in terms of their hydrology and biodiversity, like Khecheopalri in the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas.<ref name="oneill_khecheopalri">{{cite journal |last1=O'Neill |first1=Alexander |display-authors=etal |date=25 February 2020 |title= Establishing Ecological Baselines Around a Temperate Himalayan Peatland |journal= Wetlands Ecology & Management |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=375–388 | doi=10.1007/s11273-020-09710-7 |bibcode=2020WetEM..28..375O |s2cid=211081106 }}</ref>